There are enough hydrogen bombs on Earth to destroy every human being. But sixty years ago there was no such thing. And one man was determined to keep it that way. Robert Oppenheimer claimed he was defending the human race. His enemies believed he should be crushed for betraying America. Was the world heading for Armageddon? Nuclear Secrets III: Superbomb
‘As of today we are living in the age of the superbomb.’ ibid. Oppenheimer
Sakhorov had seen all of Fuch’s information but he wanted to go his own way. ibid.
A three-mile wide fireball recreated every element the universe had ever seen. It was equivalent to a thousand Hiroshimas. Five thousand miles away Teller watched the birth of his bomb. ibid.
The Soviet H-bomb had arrived several years earlier than the CIA had predicted fuelling suspicions there were still spies at large in America. ibid.
[Lewis] Strauss ordered the FBI to seize all Oppenheimer’s classified files. ibid.
The world’s worst nightmare: a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. But hidden in the desert is an atom bomb factory the West helped build, and it belongs to Israel. One man exposes an international conspiracy of silence. He’s up against one of the most feared secret services in the world. And they won’t stop till they’ve got him. Nuclear Secrets IV: Vanunu and the Bomb
He risked a heavy prison sentence to take photos of what he’d seen. ibid.
Mossad would be coming after him. ibid.
‘Israel could have up to 200 atom bombs.’ ibid. UK expert
There was a long list of Western countries who would be very embarrassed if Vanunu’s story ever got out. ibid.
The next day Israel denied the allegations. ibid.
The Sunday Mirror printed pictures of Vanunu and ridiculed his story. ibid.
The Sunday Times finally decided on publish on October 5. ibid.
Curiously, the world’s press didn’t want to know. ibid.
For eleven years Vanunu was in solitary confinement. ibid.
Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, brilliant scientist, trusted colleague, nuclear spy. Khan’s masterplan: to steal Europe’s nuclear secrets, build an atomic bomb for Pakistan, and set up a smuggling network to sell those secrets on to Middle Eastern states from Libya to Iran. A nuclear network reaching as far as North Korea. Nuclear Secrets V: The Terror Trader
The mastermind behind the biggest global nuclear smuggling ring. ibid.
He got a job at Europe’s largest civilian atomic research consortium. ibid.
Khan flew to Pakistan, Christmas 1975. ibid.
With contacts all over Europe Khan’s bomb project rapidly accelerated. ibid.
‘The Chinese provided invaluable assistance to Pakistan’s nuclear efforts.’ ibid.
At a chicken farm in the Iraqi desert they uncovered a treasure trove of documents … The Iraqi secret service received an offer from Khan’s network. ibid.
1998: Pakistan exploded its first bomb in response to Indian nuclear tests of the same month. ibid.
The cheque cleared: Khan had helped Iran on the road to nuclear power. ibid.
In the shadows of the Cold War another war was being waged. This one between spies. It was a war of stealth, deception and betrayal. The weapons were wit, daring, courage. Master Spies s1e1: Spy vs Spy, Discovery History 1999
During the summer of 1962 Oleg Penkovsky stepped up his activity and had more than a dozen meetings … At their next meeting the KGB was watching. ibid.
During the Cold War the Berlin wall made it extremely difficult for STASI agents working in West Berlin to communicate with their controllers in East Berlin. ibid.
The STASI developed some of the best surveillance equipment in the world. ibid.
The FBI use state of the art technology to trap the most damaging spy in American intelligence history. The CIA used a laser-engraved message to communicate with an agent in Moscow. The KGB provided its spies with a special camera hidden in a cigarette-case and a device to read secret American codes. During the Cold War KGB agents practised the subtle art of concealment, and the CIA borrowed ideas from the world of magic. Master Spies s1e2: The Real 007
[Aldrich] Ames gave the Russians several plastic bags full of secret documents … Inside the CIA the damage was felt immediately. ibid.
Aldrich Ames was Moscow’s most valuable mole in the Cold War. For nine years he fed top secret documents to the KGB. He compromised more than 100 CIA espionage operations in the Soviet Union and was personally responsible for the deaths of at least 10 CIA spies. The Kremlin paid Aldrich Ames more than $2.5 million. ibid.
In 1987 the KGB arrested Vladimir Vasiliev: he was tried for espionage and treason. ibid.
Unlike James Bond, worked in the shadows. ibid.
[Rudolph] Abel was a genius at transforming everyday objects into the jewels of espionage. ibid.
The Krogers worked tirelessly for nine years processing information and passing it on to the Kremlin; it was stressful work. ibid.
That December a US Navy Warrant Officer walked into the Soviet embassy and offered to spy for the Kremlin. His motive was money: John Walker. ibid.
Oleg Gordievsky was the highest ranking KGB officer ever to spy for British Intelligence. ibid.
After his miraculous escape from Moscow, Gordievsky visited the CIA several times a year to hold seminars on the KGB. ibid.
These are instruments of death: they are specially designed and used by Intelligence agencies for one specific purpose: for killing. Assassination: it was used by Intelligence agencies in time of war. Assassins had learnt to kill more efficiently using cutting-edge technology. Master Spies s1e3: The Deadly Game
For many years Captain Peter Mason worked for British Intelligence as a professional assassin to Her Majesty’s government. ibid.
The first hunter team: Codenamed Baker the team reported to the SAS, a top secret group working for British Intelligence. Its mission: to avenge Nazi atrocities against British personnel and secret agents. ibid.
At the top of Stalin’s list his arch-rival Leon Trotsky. ibid.
In 1978 the Bulgarian secret service asked the KGB to assassinate a dissident living in London: the intended victim was Georgi Markov, a popular Bulgarian writer and anti-communist … The poison was a lethal derivative of ricin. ibid.
Britain at the time of Queen Elizabeth I was divided, unstable and violent. Despite this, Elizabeth stayed in power for over 40 years. This secret of her incredible reign is hidden in this portrait: detailed in the folds of her dress – these eyes and ears represent, a spy network: the world’s first secret service run by a father and son team, both exceptionally intelligent and given the job of protecting Queen and Country. This series tells their story over five decades and reveals how the secret state was born. Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents, BBC 2017
Over the course of her reign there were 14 assassination attempts on her life. ibid.
Cecil’s genius was to create the world’s first spy network. ibid.
The traitor [‘40’] was the Duke of Norfolk. ibid.
She was living in constant danger. Plots against Elizabeth keep coming. ibid.
They know that it is not enough for Mary to be the figurehead of a conspiracy, they must catch her red-handed in a plot to kill the Queen. ibid.
‘Elizabeth was ineffably different, she’s exceptional, she’s holy, she’s magical.’ Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents II, Lisa Hilton
The Spanish armada has just been defeated but there is still the fear they might try again. ibid.
Robert Cecil: ‘he is trained to do the dirty work, he is clever, cunning, feeble, rich, lonely.’ ibid.
He inherited his father’s spy network. ibid.
The Earl of Essex was everything Cecil wasn’t: he was handsome, an expert swordsman and a war hero. ibid.
His father masterminded the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. ibid.
Wherever Essex and his men were they find Cecil has larger forces there waiting for him. ibid.